In January I'm heading to West Africa in order to cycle the 4000km or so between Dakar and Lagos. I'm currently looking for the bike to take me, and my very limited budget has led me to the mid-90's MTBs. But, of course, I've been doing the bike porn rounds as well. I've been ogling the Surly Longhaul Truckers, and the, *ooh gosh*, the Thorn Nomads! But even though I'd be telling a bald faced lie if I said I wouldn't bite your arm off for one of those top-end dream bikes, I'm feeling more and more confident that whatever you can do on one of those you can do on a bike that costs £150-£200 all in, new cables, brakepads and all that jazz.
... So it got me wondering...
What's the longest ride that you've (ideally) done, or heard of, on the cheapest bike?
I don't think we can count supported tours here. You need to have been carrying your sleeping and cooking kit, food and water, at least.
I'll open the field with around 1600km from Calais to Marseille on a Dawes Sterling I bought for about a tenner to which, in a stroke of madness, I fitted a new Deore drivetrain, including a 9 speed cassette which I left on a friction shifter. I reckon it totted up at about £150-£200 after I built a new rear wheel. So that would be a conservative estimate of £0.125/km
For comparison, the Thorn Nomad starts at £2358. So to get the same value for money you'd have to put in a staggering 18,864km. So that's crossing France almost 12 times. Or from Calais to Cape Town and a third of the way back (which, to be fair, probably is a distance covered by some Nomads).
P.s. If you want to help me get better value for money next time, I've opened a thread here... viewtopic.php?f=3&t=373348#p2776394 ... where I'm looking for something to take me across West Africa for around £150.
... So it got me wondering...
What's the longest ride that you've (ideally) done, or heard of, on the cheapest bike?
I don't think we can count supported tours here. You need to have been carrying your sleeping and cooking kit, food and water, at least.
I'll open the field with around 1600km from Calais to Marseille on a Dawes Sterling I bought for about a tenner to which, in a stroke of madness, I fitted a new Deore drivetrain, including a 9 speed cassette which I left on a friction shifter. I reckon it totted up at about £150-£200 after I built a new rear wheel. So that would be a conservative estimate of £0.125/km
For comparison, the Thorn Nomad starts at £2358. So to get the same value for money you'd have to put in a staggering 18,864km. So that's crossing France almost 12 times. Or from Calais to Cape Town and a third of the way back (which, to be fair, probably is a distance covered by some Nomads).
P.s. If you want to help me get better value for money next time, I've opened a thread here... viewtopic.php?f=3&t=373348#p2776394 ... where I'm looking for something to take me across West Africa for around £150.
